Terriers chief Clark could now be target for Tigers

HULL CITY are understood to have begun the search for a new manager with Nigel Pearson on the brink of rejoining former club Leicester.

The Tigers are thought to have drawn up a shortlist of targets that could include Huddersfield chief Lee Clark and MK Dons manager Karl Robinson.

Pearson’s return to the King Power Stadium is believed to be a matter of dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It is understood the 48-year-old, who did not take training with the Hull players yesterday, has already spoken to Leicester’s representatives and that only legal issues remain to be resolved.

Neither Hull nor Leicester have made an official comment, leaving supporters awaiting clarification. But Pearson’s return to the East Midlands would seem inevitable, with sources suggesting he would command a salary of £1m a year, plus another £1m bonus if he hoists Leicester back into the Premier League.

The Foxes are 12th in the Championship, two points behind Hull and three points off the play-offs.

Pearson would be given plenty of funds to increase Leicester’s chances of reaching the big-time. The club’s Thai owners are likely to make around £8m available for the January transfer window.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Pearson managed Leicester to the League One title and to the Championship play-offs before leaving to become Hull manager in the summer of 2010.

With Pearson’s departure all but sealed, Hull are anxious to ensure the momentum they have generated in this season’s Championship is not lost.

They are believed to want an up-and-coming young manager to continue the development of a fledgling squad, meaning such as Clark (38) and Robinson (31) could tick all the right boxes.

Clark was heavily linked with the Leicester job before affirming his commitment to the Terriers, whom he has guided to 42 league games unbeaten. Robinson has been associated with the vacancies at Leicester and Nottingham Forest recently and is highly regarded after serving his coaching apprenticeship with Liverpool and Blackburn.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Another name to emerge last night for the position was that of former captain and player-manager Warren Joyce.

Joyce, 46, is currently the reserve team coach at Manchester United and is still regarded as a hero by Hull supporters after saving the club from relegation from the Football League during his last stint in charge 11 years ago.